My Mantra for Success

21st September.

This day will always be etched in my memory as on this day with a single stroke of luck, my life turned into a success story!

With some of the most prestigious brands such as IIT, IIM, RBI and CBS on my resume, many would believe that I would have breezed through my schooling as a topper, consistently scoring more than 90% and life would have been a cakewalk for me. The truth is I never managed to get even 80% prior to my high school board exams, only exception being pre-nursery :D (when I scored 96%). This didn’t stop me from putting in effort for 10th board exams as my father had promised me my first bicycle, if I did manage to get more than 80%.

And lo…I got 85% and my first bicycle. I was the 2nd topper in my school but fell marginally short of securing admission in some of the best schools in my city for 10+2. It fetched me admission into the only English medium school in one of the most educationally backward districts of India (Lakhimpur-kheri), where power cuts were more frequent than the shifts in stock market. However, I lost neither hope nor heart and worked incessantly for the coveted three letters (IIT), which I believed could change the destiny of my life from darkness to light. I burned the midnight oil (literally!) as kerosene lamp was the only source of light for me to dive into the most challenging engineering problems, when a spell of darkness loomed around me.

I missed selection in IIT by a single mark but managed to get into University of Roorkee (UOR), the oldest engineering college in Asia (1847), founded by East India Company of Britain to get a constant supply of civil engineers, building a wide network of canals in western Uttar Pradesh. It was on this day (21st September 2001) by a stroke of luck, UOR got the acclaimed status of IIT and changed my life into a success story!

Life still wasn’t easy as I was in the company of some of the best engineering minds in the country and with a relative grading system, managed to get just above-average grades. My pursuit for excellence and knowledge continued as I prepared for management education from IIM. With interview calls from all six IIM’s (BLACKI), I missed admission into IIMA but made my way into IIMB in the beautiful garden city of Bengaluru.

Life at IIMB was even more challenging than IIT and as my grades dwindled further, my ambitions grew larger. With specialization in Finance, I aspired to work in the field of investment banking and got interview calls from four top-notch I-banks. What I did manage to get was an entry into a small team of investment banking at Axis Bank. When the financial crisis descended in 2008 and some of the top-notch names in I-banking stumbled, my job at Axis Bank grew, both in terms of responsibility and reward.

However, soon I got disillusioned with the monotonous routine of working out more deals and more fees for the bank and aspired again to make a difference through one of the most coveted administrative jobs in India. I left a high-flying career and started burning the midnight oil again to prepare for UPSC. I missed selection in IAS but managed to get selection in RBI and APFC, eventually opting for a career with the central bank, hoping to boost Indian economy through policy making. ??????

Life at RBI took a drastic turn when the government suddenly demonetized high-value currency notes comprising 86% of total cash in circulation. As everyone tried to exchange their notes with new currency, I found myself enveloped in a cloud of dust from old currency notes, strolling over hundreds of wooden cash boxes in underground vaults, trying to manage flow of currency, working late into the midnight at half my previous salary, under a tyrant boss who left no rule in the operation manual to impose his authority on me. Soon I found myself gasping for a breath of fresh air !

My quest took me to Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark, one of the happiest countries in the world with one of the cleanest air-quality and a work culture where equality is the rule of society (Jante’ law). This time I got what I had aspired for. I thought that finally I have arrived!

Life at CBS was a year of roller-coaster ride filled with numerous new courses such as sustainability and leadership, in an entirely new culture, amongst a batch of internationals from every corner of the world, resulting in a quantum leap in my learning. With the unexpected arrival of Mr. Covid half-way into the course, things again took a drastic turn and I found myself in a state of complete isolation and desolation, which gave me a clear sense of my ‘Self’…for the first time in my life!

One year has elapsed since then and despite making more than hundred job applications, I find myself writing this piece on 21st September, the day which changed my life with a stroke of luck. ?

I must also mention that I was struck with a polio paralysis in one of my legs when I was three months old and since then managed and learned to work my way with it. It always reminds me that life is neither easy nor perfect and one must always look forward, losing neither hope nor heart.

My mantra for Success (or handling failure):

• Life is always challenging, no matter which stage you are. So, remember to pause and laugh
• Always aim and strive for the best; even if you fail, you will get the next best thing
• When things don’t work the way you want them to, lose neither hope nor heart, and continue your effort as there is something better waiting for you. As one of my connections advised me today…hang in there!